Granulating-machine.



-J. D. HISS. GRANULATING- MACHINE;

APPLICATION TILED HAR.25,'-1907.

Patented May 4 1909 Q 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 om wk on J. 1). 1ss. GRANULATINGMACHI NB.

APPLICATION FILED MAR: 26, 1007.

Patented May 4, 1909.

J. D. HISS.

GRANULATING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1907. 920,869. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l Iii! mu m I I I I I I fl W fl I l I u l Ill hww M13 4 CWT/MW Patented May 4;1909.

f UNITEDSTATES Jill-IN D. HISS, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

PATENT OFFICE.

GRANULATING-MA CHINE To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JOHN D. HIss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglasand State of Nebraska,

,hasinvented certain new and useful Improvements in G-ranulating-Machines, of which the following is a specification. Thls invention relates to improvements in granulatihg machines-and has for its object,

primarily, the presentation of a means for cutting the stems of alfalfa into small' granules .for the product known as alfalfa; meal, and includes mechanism for passing a compact mass bf alfalfa forage or; similar material overa recessedlate where it is out into short'lengths suitab e for the meal, by a rotatable toothed cylinder.

The invention refers to acylinder having thereon a serles of teeth disposed at different radlal distances; and to a stationary plate.

having recesses within which the teeth travel,

above purpose it has been necessary,-in' order toeffeot granulation, to pass the'material more than once through such machines, for the reason that, since. the stems are never presented parallel, a large proportion of the material does not make contact with. the cutting surfaces which are provided, especially isthis the case where the material is moist or damp; the result, therefore, in the use of" such machines is to tear the stems into shreds, but a considerable ortion of the. stems passthe machine for -t e, reason first stated. In the present construction it is intended that all stemswill be cut into short lengths without reference to the angle pre sented by such stemswhen enteiringthe cutting devices."

The invention also'has reference to certain" features of economical construction asaeoniplete machine, and to features found of,

' advantage in assembling the parts, all of which is fully explained hereinafter. The

- machine has few and simple parts and may,

bemanufactured at small expense, con1para-' Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 25,

tively speaking. The invention consists of cessed Patented may 4, 1909. 1907. Serial No. 364,263. I

the combinationand arrangement of parts as described herein, pointed out by the claims and illustrated in the drawings, wherein Figure 1 represents a plan view of the invention, a part of the resiliently-mounted roller being broken away to disclose other parts. Fig. 2 is an enlarged, broken,.plan view, to show relative positions of the recessed plate and cylinder teeth, the latter being in section. Fig; 3 is a vertical presentation of the recessed plate and its support ing-plates in transverse section. Fig. 4 is a vertical side elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 s a plan view of the cutting cylinder in longitudinal section. Fig- 6 is a plan view of the recessed plate. Fig. 7 is an end View of the cutting cylinder'as on line a, bof Fig. 5, the shaft being in section. Figs. 8 and 9 are, respectively, rear and front views of the .maehine. Fig. 10 is a plan view, somewhat enlarged, of guides .53, beinga view thereof on line 0 d of Fig. 4. Fig. 11 is a perspective -\'-iew, broken away, of the recessed cuttingplate mounted upon the bed-plate.

Referring now to the several. figures in the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 indicate side- )iecos for the 'upper part of a frame 3, and legs 4:, 5, 6 and 7-provide a suitable sup ort therefor, the front legs being connectec by cross-pieces 8 and 9, and the rear legs by cross-pieces 10 and 11.

At the front end of the frame upon sidepieces 1 and 2 in suital vle bearings 12 (Figs. 1, 9.) is mounted shaft 13 upon one end of which is milley 14 adapted to receive rotation from any convenient exterior power; and, midway on'this sh'al't between sidepieces 1 and 2 is secured the cutting-cylinder 15 which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow (Fig. 4.) to perform the cutting. This cylinder is preferablyformed by use of vertically-*-(lispose l, circular plates 16 and 17, Plates 16 have a greater diameterthanpl'ates 17; each of said plates are providedwith teeth 18 at. their outer extremity.

Shaft 13 is provide hwith splines'19upon which plates 16 and 17 are alternately seated, and they will/be held non-rotatively and securedso that the teeth. of one plate will be presented in alternation, horizontally con- Sid81(l;Wll3l1 the teeth of an adjoining plate.

I e'mnloythe horihontally disp'osed, roplate 20 (F igs.:1', 2, 3, '6'.) which eX-.

.tends between side-pieces'l' 'a'nd 2, and in or der that tliisplate may have a secure mounting; it is seated upon bed-plate 58 and heldby means of-screws59; bed-plate 58 is pref- 'erably secured upon supporting-plate 60 as by means of bolts 6.1, 1and as arranged, plates 58' and 60} extend the entire length of and beneath recessed plate 20; supporting-plate 60 is-sustained by brackets-62 (Fig. 1.) secured upon the inner faces of sidesl and 2. This construction affords a secure mounting forthe recessed plate. This plate isconiparatively thin and should be of a fine qualityof steel. Since the recesses orcuttingwalls thereof become worn during the action of cutting 'fora'ge, it is arranged so that it may be reversed, and when turned bottom upward may be used until the opposite out tmg-wallsare worn; as a measure oi economy,

therefore, plate 20 is of light structure and plates 58 and 60 which are of heavier con-- struction are depended upon to prevent vibration during the cutting of the alfalfa, the

latter plates being permanently mounted,

2 5 whileiolate 20 may be readily removed or re-- when desired, screws 59 being used as verse a hold-1n means therefor.

Bed-p ate 58 has a front wall 62 formed downwardly converged with'a'series', of out wardlyextending projections orridges formed thereon'and angularin form, indicated at 63, and recesses are formed between ridges 63 which correspond'to recesses 2.1 in

" plate 20 this particular construction permits ample space for the passage of the product in a downward direction alter its cutting has been efl'ected, and furnishes a substantial support, found necessary-for that part of plate 201which is located between recesses 21 thereof. I

The recessed plate is disposed adj aoent to and, horizontally considered, centrally of cylinder 15; this plate is provided with a series ofangularly formed recesses 21 uponits inner edge, each recess having a depth equal to the difference in the radii of plates 16 and 17, and a width corresponding to the thick Recesses -21 ness of said plates 16 and 17. are angularly formed and are adapted, to re- 5.0 ceive therein the teeth of plates 16, and all material cut by the machine passes throu h these recesses or. adjacent to thejnner W113i of plate 26; The cutting of the'st'alks, leaves or stems is performedby action of the teeth 5 5 of the, cylinder-plates" passing within the 'recesses err-adjacent to theinner wall 'ofplate- 20 and, as will be seen, the' action is certain; since the teeth edg'es-22 and 23, respectively,

of plates 17 and16 (Fig. 2.)are disposed parallel withand pass closelyadjacent tothe inner wall or edge 24 of plate 20, and inner walls 25 of recesses 21, the action of cutting performed by these parts, is certain in operation; teeth'-1 8:of 'plates16 have edges 26 36 of shaft which pass parallel with and closely adjacent,

to the transverse walls 27 of recesses 21, the

degree of adjacency of these parts being suflilel walls 26 of recesses 21; stems of forage presented at right angles to the cylinder Wlll be cut of a length equal to. the length of teeth 18; if there is a diagonal presentation of stems, a cutting is nevertheless certain although the lengthof the granules will be slightly greater than where the presentation is'transverse or parallel with the cylinder.

g The invention hasreference'to a means for compressing the material andfor holding the same: during-the operation of cutting, as a compactmass, for, asis. apparent, if loose material is thrown upon or passes .loosely upon-the rotating cylinder the stalks, or

.many of them would be bent and doubled upon themselves in a'manner to pass the refces'ses of plate 20 without being cut; therc fore,- in order that the material may pass as a compact. mass to the cylinder, devices are employed so that it is directed between rollers 26 and 29 from there-a1 o'f the machine,

roller '28 being resiliently-mounted in a man- 'ner to depress the material upon roller 29; both of these rollers are corrugated longitudinally as shown at 64 and the material is compressed. and forced in a'forwarr'l direction toaneng'agement with the teeth of cylinder '15, the'mass resting, upon recessed plate 20 at the time of such engagement.

Y As a'convenient means for actuating rollers 28 and 29, I employ pulley 29 upon the end of shaft 13; this pulley is connected with a balance wheel 30, preferably by means of belt .mounted' upon shaft 35 upon suitable bear- 31. This balance'wheel is suitably 'lngs at'the rear of the machine, and, by any convenient means, as by sprocket chain 32,

a rotation "is communicated to shaft 33 since chain 32 has a'connection with gear 34 'upon shaft35'of the balance wheel and with gear Shaft 33 and gear 33' havea rotation indicated by arrow '2, and by means of chain 37idler' gear 38 has a similar rotation. Gear'38 has a shaft 39 (Figs. 1, 4.)-

upon which is mounted roller 29. which rotates in a manner to pass the material in a forward direction. This roller is non-resilient-in its mounting and itsperiphery is, at

its upper extremity,,on a level with the recessed-plate 20.

The machine is provided with a floor 41 4 eating rotation to roller (Fig. 1.) occupying substantially the same plane as plate 20, and is useful simply to sustain the material'while itis passed from the rear'of the machine to rollers 28 and 29; idler gears 42 are mounted upon shaft-43 (Fig. 1.), the latter, being mounted in sidewardly-extending fingers 47, and the devices,

mentioned afford simple and effective means for conveying material from the rear toward the front of, the machine, and for communi-v 29. Roller 28 receives rotation in the direction indicated by arrow 3 (Fig. 1.) by reason of chain 48 frictionally seated-upon pulleys 49 and 50, best shown in Fig. 8, p'ulley 50 being mounted upon shaft .33 already described; pulley 49 has. a mounting upon shaft 51,.and when the machine is in operation, material to be cut is manually placed upon floor 41 atthe rear of the machine, and under operation of devices named betwe n. rollers into a compact mass, and by operationof these rollers is forced forwardly and is out by means of the teeth which either travel Within the recesses of or'adiacent the inner orcutting edge 24 of plate 20, already described.

In order that roller 28 may have a resilient 'mounting', shaft 51 has a seating between bearing-heads 52, the latter being slidably seated within guides 53. Guides 53 are preferably secured upon side-pieces 1 and 2 and have oppositely-disposed end-walls 54 curve-(l to conform to an arc whose center is shaft 33.

I employ sustaining-bolts 54 each having an upper end connected with bearing-heads 52 and a lower end extended below side-pieces 1 and 2 and terminating in a threaded ends part, and upon the latter is employed the washer or co lar 55 and nut 56'; spiral springs 57 are seated upon-that part of sustainingbolts 54 betweenlcollars 55 and side-piecesl and 2, and it will be understood that shaft 51 may have a limited upward swing subject to the resistance of springs 57'; and the resili ency of the springs may be adjusted ,in awell' known manner by means of the'threaded connection of nuts 56 with sustaining bolts 54. These springs, combined with. the

weight of roller 28 cause the material to be pressed into a mass between the rollers, considered sufficiently solid to be cut to advan:

tage by the particular cutting devices de.--

scribed; the degree of solidity of the mass depends in a large measure upon the presence of dampness in. the material, and if material is quite dry or 'crlsp, the resiliency should be ad usted to a greater degree. By reason of roll is moved forward 'and passed, 28 end 29 where it is pressed roll are less-liable'to become broken, since thematerial might be sup lied irregularly.

. The diameters'of pullh'ys 49 and 50 should be of' suitable relative exterlt, so that the movement of roller 28 at its c rcumference will equal that'of roller 29, to the end that material may pass properly between these ers.

Having described operation and function quite'fully while enumerating the parts, it is "believed that any further or particular description is notre uired.

- I have describe exact details, the same being eonsideredrthe best construction, but I do not limit myself; to such exactness, and it is believed that, certain minor details could be changed Without departing from the invention, the status of the latter being determined by its claims, 4 i

What I claim as my invention is,

1. A granulating machine, in combination; a frame a horizontally disposed, recessed, reversible cuttinglate; a knife roll having teeth traversing t e recesses of the horizontally, disposed,

late; a lower'feed roll mounted upon the "re-me curvedguides mounted and extended.

upwardly from the frame, each of said curved guides having a slidable bearing-heap seated therein; ail-upper feed roll having its shaft mounted-within the slidable bearing-heads of the curved guides and having a periphery disposed adjacent the periphery of the lower feed roll substantially upon the plane of the horizontally disposed, recessed, reversible cuttmg-plate. f

2. 'A granulating machine, iii/combination; a frame; :an actuating pulley mounted upon the frame; a horizont'a ydisposed, receasedv cutting-plate; a knife teeth traversing the recesses of tally roll having v the horizondisposed cutting-plate; a lower feed curved guides mounted and extended upwardly from the frame, each of said curved guides having a resiliently mounted bearing-head seated therein; an upper feed roll having its shaft disposed within. the resiliently mounted bearing heads of the curved guides; aroll-pulley mounted upon the shaft of said upper feed roll; a flexible member bet-ween said actuating pulley and said ro1lpulley;. said upper feed roll having its periphery dis osed adgacent the periphery of the lower fee roll substantially upon the 'plane of the horizontallydisposed, recessedcutting plate.

In testimony whereof I have altered my slgnature 1n presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. HISS.

Witnesses:

HIRAM A. STU-RGES, OHAs. H. DAVIS.

reversible cutting-' 

